Re: chip shot

[Khan Klatt <khan@mediaaccess.com>]

>When I was thinking about chipping my car I asked the service rep at 
>the dealer this question..
>He said if you bring it in with the chip in... yes it does void the 
>warrenty on the ecu and engine... however if you put the stock chip 
>back in before taking it to the shop no it won't..
>so get it if you have a problem, just throw the stock chip in when 
>at the shop and then switch em back when out of the shop.

I think this guy that you talked to doesn't know what he's talking 
about. An add on component can only void the warranty of a component 
it replaces, or if it can be shown that a peripheral component failed 
as a result of your installing the aftermarket component.

For example, if you got lowering springs, but you kept the stock 
shocks/struts, and your struts were always bottoming out, and 
eventually got busted, then the dealership can refuse to fix under 
warranty your shocks... (this is not a good example, because shocks 
are wear and tear items, that are not covered under warranty, but I 
think it makes the point).

So, the only way an aftermarket ECU could void your engine's warranty 
would be if the engine failed somehow, and it was because the ECU 
failed or caused it to break. There is no way that they can, within 
the law, void your engine's warranty and your ECU warranty, just 
because you have an aftermarket chip in there.

It's not like they can say "Oh, I see you have an aftermarket chip 
here... that means I'll have to void your engine's warranty right 
this moment, even though it is running fine."

The only way they can do that is to say "I figured out why your 
engine failed, it was because of this ECU you put in here and it 
caused your engine to do 'x' and that's why the engine is toast."

The service rep is wrong even further still... In the situation where 
your engine gets fried, and before you have it towed to the dealer, 
you have the original ECU put back into place, your warranty can 
still be voided... it's just that the dealer won't know about it. If 
they pull ODBII codes, and it shows something wrong that the chip 
caused, and they can show it wasn't the stock chip that caused the 
problem, regardless of whether you put the original chip in or not, 
they could void the warranty (assuming it failed because of the chip).

So the bottom line is this:

a) You can get a chip, but it will void your ECU's warranty. If you 
have to do any soldering/desoldering that may cause your socket board 
to be voided.

b) If your engine never fails, your engine's warranty won't be voided.

c) If your engine fails, pull the aftermarket chip before you have it 
towed in (if you want to be sneaky) or leave it in (if you're honest 
to a flaw).


Finally, I have never heard of anyone causing their engine to fail 
because of an aftermarket chip (not to say that it hasn't happened, 
but there have been no reports of it happening).

-Khan
-- 

Khan Klatt                                         khan@mediaaccess.com

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